Tuesday, 8 December 2015

This trip to
the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean was
undertaken immediately after a 3-week birding tour
of Panama (report here
http://www.surfbirds.com/trip_report.php?id=2628 and following blog post)
with Glenn Scherf, Bill Watson and Sandra Watson. Our intention was
to mix birding with cultural, culinary and various pursuits,
and our destinations lived
up to expectations. We
did very
well with the endemics and regional endemics on the four islands. Of
the 90+ species we were chasing, we
dipped (inexplicably) only on
Chesnut-bellied Cuckoo
on Jamaica and for Bill, West Indian Whistling-Duck and
Antillean Euphonia
(both of which
I had seen in the Dominican Republic). We
managed this impressive result while birding mostly in the mornings,
freeing up the afternoons for travel and other activities.

We
opted to self-drive in
Puerto Rico for our 6-day
visit, as the distances are
relatively short, the roads are good and the sites are easy to find
and bird. We elected not to
try for the endemic parrot as the site was out of the way and
requires prior arrangement with the authorities. Our focus on the
island was in the south-west, where most of the specialties can be
readily
found.

For
7 days
in
Jamaica, we hired Wayne Murdock
of
Attraction Links (http://www.attractionslink.com/)
to
drive and provide the vehicle; driving around Jamaica can be
challenging so this was a good move. Wayne is not a professional
birding guide but knows the sites; beware that you will need to pay
for his meals and costs not in
the contract. We were on Grand Cayman Island only in transit, but
with enough time to find the single endemic.

In
Cuba for 15 days, we were
again self-driving but arranged
for Andy
Mitchell in London (kingbird@cubabirdingtours.com)
to organise a package with
Havanatur that
included car hire and the more expensive hotels. Andy also lines up
local guides, organises
for them to book your remaining accommodation in rural casas, and
provides detailed directions for finding your way around. The
directions
proved to be accurate, easy to use and useful in
Cuba, where road signs can
be
absent or easy to miss.
Hiring Andy did
not add much to the cost if
we
had
arranged
everything
ourselves.
Cuba
proved to be a most impressive destination, from both cultural and
birding perspectives.

ITINERARY

October
24. We
flew from Panama City to the capital of Puerto Rico, San Juan, via
Bogota. After a long travel day we stayed overnight at the convenient
but expensive Airport Hotel. (See here for Puerto Rico bird pics).

Mary-Lees-By-The-Sea

October
25.
We picked up our car up from the airport early in
the
morning and drove 2 hours across the island to the south-west town of
Guanica,
booking into Mary Lees By The Sea, a self-contained apartment complex
on the water a few kilometres from town. In the afternoon we drove
west a short distance to Parguera
where
we saw a flock of Yellow-shouldered Blackbirds at a traditional site
by a small seaside store.

Maricao State Forest

October
26.
We drove north into the mountains to Maricao
State Forest,
where the wet forest contrasts
with the dry scrub around Guanica. In the early morning a Puerto
Rican Nightjar flew
across the road. Our efforts at Maricao centred on trails and the
roadside around
the state forest administration
centre.
Many
island endemics showed
including
Puerto Rican Emerald, Puerto Rican Tody, Puerto Rican Woodpecker,
Puerto Rican Vireo, Puerto Rican Spindalis and Puerto Rican
Bullfinch. The Puerto Rican Tanager – expected
to be given its own family - was
common and frequently a flock leader. Elfin Woods Warbler is one the
island's more difficult targets but we found it in 2
spots, including
the turnoff from the main road to the park centre.
Other
birds included
a couple of fly-by Green Mangos
and
a Key
West
Quail-Dove on a trail. When we returned to Mary-Lees-By-The-Sea we
found Pearly-eyed Thrasher to be common.

Guanica State Forest

October
27.
Before
dawn
we went back along the road towards Guanica, where we had good looks
at Puerto Rican Nightjar at the 3.5km mark. We drove
a
few
kilometres
east along the scenic coastal road to
a track that headsnorth
up
a slope into the Guanica
State Forest.
In the dry thorny scrub
we found Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo, Puerto Rican Flycatcher,
Caribbean Elaenia and Adelaide's Warbler. Another
Key West Ground-Dove was seen.

Coast near Guanica

October
28.
Back in the state forest on a trail at the road's end, a Puerto Rican
Pewee was seen briefly in the morning. We left our comfortable
apartment to travel across the island to the
Humacao Reserve on
the east coast. We found Antillean Crested Hummingbird and
Green-throated Carib quite easily in flowering trees along levy banks
in the wetland. We headed north for our overnight accommodation in
the Ceiba
Country Inn. In the hotel grounds after some effort we scored nice
views of Puerto Rican Screech-Owl.

October
29.
We saw
the last of our targets, Puerto Rican Oriole, in the hotel grounds in
the morning before departing for San Juan, where we stayed in the
Coral by the Sea Hotel. In
the afternoon we visited the Del Morro Castle and San Juan Old City.

Del Morro Castle

October
30.
We flew to the Jamaican capital of Kingston via Fort Lauderdale in
the U.S. We were met at the airport by Wayne (he was late) and it was
dark by the time we were leaving suburban Kingston. It took a
couple of hours on a slow, windy road to reach our accommodation,
Starlight
Chalets,
near Section. The hotel was ordinary and the food highly overpriced,
but the place is very birdy, with
superb
views across the valleys. See here for Jamaica bird pics.

With Wayne Murdock, Hardwar Gap

October
31.
The day began around the hotel grounds with
(Red-billed)
Streamertail, Sad Flycatcher, White-chinned Thrush and Orangequit. A
party of Yellow-shouldered Grassquits was spotted along the road to
Section.
We
spent the morning
on the higher slopes of the Blue Mountains-Hollywell
National Park around Hardwar
Gap,
especially the forest within a few kilometres of the Gap
Cafeon
both sides at
about 1500m.
A
feast of endemics included
Ring-tailed Pigeon, Jamaican Woodpecker, Jamaican Oriole, Jamaican
Becard, White-eyed Thrush (much scarcer
than White-chinned),
Jamaican Vireo and Jamaican Euphonia. We saw a Greater Antillean
Pewee, a difficult-to-find species.

View from Starlight Chalets

Blue
Mountain Vireo is another of the island's trickier birds but we found
several. Arrowhead Warbler proved to be quite common. In the
afternoon we birded around the chalet gardens, scoring an unexpected
Jamaican Mango and to top the day off, close views of a Crested
Quail-Dove on the road near the hotel.

November
1.
We again birded Hardwar Gap, this time going a little further to
Woodside Road. We saw Jamaican Tody, Jamaican Elaenia and
Greater Antillean Bullfinch, with
brief views of a Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo. In the afternoon we visited
Dennis Coffee, a farm where the famed Blue Mountain coffee is grown
organically by a community of dope-smoking Rastafarians.

Dennis Coffee Farm

November
2.
We were up well before sunrise to try for Jamaican Owl and were not
disappointed. A pair called for a while before an owl flew in very
close in response to playback of a juvenile begging call; it perched
briefly a couple of metres above us. As the sun rose we found
Rufous-tailed Flycatcher in the garden. We left the mountains to head
to the north coast town of Port
Antonio,
where we checked into the pleasant Bay View Eco-Resort.

Port Antonio

November
3.
We headed east for a 45-minute drive to the Ecclesdown
Road
in the John Crow Mountains. We easily
found
our main targets after being confined to the car for a couple of
hours by heavy rain. Good numbers of Yellow-billed Parrots
and Black-billed Parrot swere
encountered along the road along with an obliging Jamaican Crow,
which responded to playback of an Australian Raven call. We saw
(Black-billed)
Streamertail, lumped by Clements with Red-billed. In the afternoon we had nice views of Jamaican Mango in Port Antonio and took time out to absorb the beautiful coastal scenery.

Coast near Port Antonio

November
4. We searched the well-vegetated hills around Port Antonio for
our sole remaining targets – Chesnut-bellied Cuckoo and Jamaican
Lizard-Cuckoo, which I had seen briefly at Hardwar Gap. We saw the
lizard-cuckoo well but the other cuckoo frustratingly eluded us.

Bob Marley Museum

November
5. We left the hotel, calling into the Castleton
Botanic Gardens, where we had a pair of Jamaican Crows, and in the
outskirts of Kingston we visited the Bob Marley Museum, where you
need to be wary of overbearing guides. We stayed at the Port Royal
Hotel near the airport.

November
6. We departed Jamaica for Cuba via George Town on Grand
Cayman Island. During the brief transit stop, when you need to
purchase your Cuban tourist cards, we left the airport and walked to
scrub close by where a Vitelline Warbler, the Caymans' only endemic,
duly emerged. We flew to Havana, dealt with paperwork complications
and picked up the vehicle at the airport. We drove 2.5 hours to our
destination – the town of San Diego de los Banos in western
Cuba in the dark, but Andy's directions ensured there were no
problems. For Cuba bird pics see here and also here.

Cueva de los Portales

Our
guide, Caesar Hernandes, met us at a prearranged spot (after some
complications not worth detailing here) and escorted us to our
accommodation – Casa JulioyCary. Casas are rooms attached to
private homes, usually with en suites. The food and ambience of
inexpensive casas in rural areas makes them are a more attractive accommodation option than the run-down government-owned hotels.

Casio JulioyCary

November
7. Caesar was booked with a tour group in the morning (another
mix-up) so we found our own way to La Guira National Park, a
30-minute drive from town. We saw nice specialties including
Great Lizard-Cuckoo, West Indian Woodpecker, Crescent-eyed Peewee and
Puerto Rican Emerald as we ascended a rough road towards the Hacienda
Cortina. In a grove of pine trees we found a pair of Olive-capped
Warblers. Higher up in the limestone gullies we heard Cuban
Solitaires calling and saw one up close.

La Guira

We
were delighted to find a sub-adult Gundlach's Hawk perched a few
metres above a trail; this is probably Cuba's hardest endemic other
than the near-mythical Zapata Rail. Other goodies included Cuban
Bullfinch and Yellow-headed Warbler. In the afternoon we hooked up
with the now available Caesar to visit the Cueva de los Portales, a
beautiful limestone cave complex used as a bolthole by Che Guevara
during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. The solitaire was again present
along with La Sagra's Flycatcher and good numbers of two bat species.
In the late afternoon we found a party of Cuban Grassquits in fields
near San Diego, along with Cuban Blackbird and Tawny-shouldered
Blackbird. Less endearing was a boisterous wedding party near the
casa which went all night.

November
8. A travel day with a very long (10 hours, including a
successful negotiation of Havana's suburbs) drive to the
livestock ranch of La Belen in eastern Cuba in the Sierra de
Najasa. The
economic challenges facing Cuba become apparent as you travel around.
Farming is often done by plough, either by hand or with livestock.
Ancient vehicles lumber along the roads along with horses and carts.
The people were nonetheless invariably polite and engaging. We arrived at our basic accommodation just on dark and none
too soon, as the last 40 kilometres of road are seriously rough.

`

Near La Belen

November
9. We birded along the road into the ranch, seeing an exquisite
Cuban Trogon (surely the classiest of its family with that tail),
Cuban Parakeet and Cuban Green Woodpecker. Cuban Tody was bigger than
todies on other islands. Cuban Palm Crow was interesting to compare
with the more common Cuban Crow. Several Giant Kingbirds were in the
mix and a Cuban Pygmy-Owl showed nicely. Later in the morning we met
our prearranged guide, Camillo, but by then we had seen the local
specialties.

November
10. A party of Rose-throated Parrots at the hotel was a good
start to the day, then another long drive (4.5 hours) to the seaside
resort of Cayo Coco, where we booked into the Hotel Sol Cayo
Coco. Everything is included in the cost for these extravagant resort
hotels including alcohol, but be warned - the cocktails are heavily
watered down.

Cayo Paredon Grande

November
11. We drove east to Cayo Paredon Grande, birding tracks
in the vicinity of the old lighthouse. Oriente Warbler and Cuban
Gnatcatcher were found easily in the dry coastal scrub. Thick-billed
Vireo was co-operative in mangroves nearby, where Cuban Oriole and
Cuban Black-Hawk were also found.

November
12. Today we headed west to Cayo Guillermo, where Bahama
Mockingbird proved to be much skulkier than the more numerous
Northern Mockingbird. We believe we had a small party of Cuban
(Zapata) Sparrow (race varonai) in the coastal scrub, which
showed briefly before flying away. We looked unsuccessfully for West
Indian Whistling-Duck around Melia Cayo Coco, supposedly a good site
for the species.

Angel Garcia at Soplillar

November
13. Another long
drive (5.5 hours) to Cuba's top birding destination – Playa
Larga in the Bay of
Pigs, where we met our guide, Angel Garcia (angelczcuba@gmail.com), who escorted us to our
accomodation - another casa, the delightful Villa Rio-Mar
(moticacuba@gmail.com)
overlooking the
historic bay. Our host,
Daniel, was charming and helpful.

At Villa Rio-Mar

November
14. We headed off early with Angel to Soplillar, an area
of forest close to Playa Larga. On the road in the early
morning we had success with 2 close Grey-fronted Quail-Doves,
followed quickly by 3 not-so-close Blue-headed Quail-Doves. On the
scrub edge we had a pair of Fernandina's Flickers putting on a show,
while the world's smallest bird, Bee Hummingbird, perched on a dead
branch in a the tree top.In
the afternoon we visited the Cuban Revolution Museum in Soplillar.

La Turba

November
15.
An early start to
La
Turba and
Cuban Nightjar performed well on the road into the huge Zapata
wetland. We were in luck when a Zapata Wren perched on a reed close
by and sung vigorously
in full view; this species, endemic to the wetland, can be easy to
miss. We had a pair of Cuban (Zapata) Sparrows on the road, these
birds much closer
than the ones on Cayo Guillermo. On the way back near Palpite,
a pair of Red-shouldered Blackbirds took some coaxing before
appearing, while a Northern (Cuban) Flicker was more co-operative.

Bay of Pigs, Playa Larga

November
16.
Our focus here was owling in the very early morning. We heard a
Stygian Owl in scrub on the edge of Playa Larga and eventually
tracked it down. Unfortunately it flushed and although close, we had
to make do with a reasonableflight
view. Better luck was in store with a Cuban Screech-Owl which perched
by the road in the open, with a couple more calling in the scrub.

Cueva de los Pecas

November
17.
With all the specialties in the bag, a day for
relaxation and sight-seeing.
We visited the Bay of Pigs Invasion Museum in Playa Giron and
La
Ceuva de los Pecas,
an impressive 70m sinkhole linked to the ocean by an underground
cave. Blue-headed Quail-Doves are fed here and a group of 6 was
very
tame. A spot of snorkelling offshore was a pleasant diversion.

Havana Old City

November
18.
As we left Playa Larga for Havana,
we called in at a home in Palpite known for its trees favoured by Bee
Hummingbirds. We saw several hummers (the males not in breeding
plumage) before undertaking the 2.5-hour drive to the Hotel Armadores
de Santander in La Haba Vieja (Old City).

Baroque Catedral de San Cristobal

November
19.
A day around the Old City, visiting the Castille del Morro and Che
Guevara's former home by taking a ride in one of the ancient
automobiles
that abound throughout Cuba.
America's inhumane and vindictive embargo, imposed in the wake of the
ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, continues to inflict a huge
economic toll on this impoverished country.

Street art - human statue in Plaza Vieja

November
20.
More sight-seeing, absorbing the cultural and historic ambience of
places like the Plaza de la Cathedral, Plaza Vieja, Baroque Catedral
de San Cristobal and Paseo del Prado.

Havana Harbour

November
21.
Depart Havana.

Sight-seeing in Havana

For an annotated list of species, see here for the full trip report on Surfbirds.

I organised the itinerary in conjunction with Jose
Carlos Garcia(info@birdingpanama.com).
I
can highly recommend the services of Birding Panama; this was a
difficult trip with plenty of challenges but with the exception of a
couple of inevitable hiccups, it was very well organised. We were
guided by Euclides (Kilo) Campos,
who was by any standard a highly capable and skilled
guide, able to track down the most difficult skulkers and
always willing to help.
In the Darien we were also guided by Isaac Pizaro from
the local Guna Indian community, who has extensive knowledge of the
local avifauna; Isaac organised the on-the-ground logistics for our
visit to Cerro Pirre. Others
have commented in reports that Isaac's behaviour can be erratic;
there is some truth to this but at the end of the day he came up with
the goods.

We
visited major sites in the Darien in the east of the country near the
Colombia border; in central Panama; and in the Chiriqui highlands in
the west near the Costa Rica border. Trails
were muddy and steep in places. Trips
of this nature are not
easy, especially
with a large group.
However
wewere
fortunate with the weather, losing very little birding time to rain,
and frequently overcast conditions kept
temperatures
in check to
some extent.
We
had no mechanical difficulties although the bus could have been more
comfortable.

The group and support staff, Rancho Frio

The
biggest challenge of the trip was always going to be the assault on
Cerro Pirre in the Darien – a key and difficult-to-access site for
many regional endemics
and specialties. We had three full days in this area in addition to
two travel days so hard
decisions had to be made about how the time should best be utilised.
Our base for this part of
the trip was Rancho Frio, the headquarters of Darien National Park.
We had three
nights at Rancho Frio and two
nightscamping
on Cerro Pirre, with our gear being transported up steep tracks by
Isaac's excellent team of porters
and other workers.

Porters on Cerro Pirre

We
spent
the first of the three days in the lowland forests around Rancho
Frio. This
was a good move because we cleaned up most of the lowland and lower
foothill specialties, allowing more time to look for mid-elevation
species on our way up Cerro Pirre on
the second day. The first
camping night
was
at mid-elevation (640m) at camp
site called Rancho Plastico.
The group split for the second night, with some again camping at
Plastico and others ascending to a ridge camp at 1100m.
Some specialties
are found only on the higher slopes but not everybody could camp
up there, in part because of the physical challenges involved in the
very steep climb and also
because provisions for a second camping party were limited. With the
benefit of hindsight, I believe it would have been better for the
whole group to have camped both nights at Plastico, with those
wishing to go up to the
ridge leaving early in the
morning and returning in the
afternoon.
It
would have made operations
much easier logistically and
prevented tensions that can arise when guides and other resources
are split.While
formidable and challenging, the climb to the top was
not as dire as some reports suggest and
can be done quite easily in a full day if participants are reasonably
fit.

Plastico Camp - Cerro Pirre

With the benefit of hindsight, I believe it would have been better for the whole group to have camped both nights at Plastico, with those wishing to go up to the ridge leaving early in the morning and returning in the afternoon. It would have made operations much easier logistically and prevented tensions that can arise when guides and other resources are split.While formidable and challenging, the climb to the top was not as dire as some reports suggest and can be done quite easily in a full day if participants are reasonably fit.

September 29. I
arrived in Panama City following a 27-hour sojourn from Brisbane via
Los Angeles. Overnight in the very nice and birdy Radisson
Summit Hotel.

September 30.
Birding in the forest which surrounds the hotel.

Radisson Summit Hotel

October 1. The
first day of the 21-day tour
but the day before our
travelling
began. Some
of us who arrived early
hired Kilo for a morning
excursion to Chagres National Park,a nice area of lowland
rainforest not far from the
hotel. Good sightings
included exceptionally close-up views of the endemic Yellow-green
Tyrannulet. Blue Cotinga,
Connecticut Warbler and White-whiskered Puffbird were seen.

October 2.
Today we visited the famed Pipeline Road
in Soberania National Park, also not far from the hotel. We spent the
day walking the shaded road, scoring nicely with Spotted Antbird,
Russet-winged Shiffornis and Streak-breasted Antpitta. An
Agami Heron close to the track was an unexpected bonus.

Birding Pipeline Road

October 3.
We left the hotel early,
crossing the Panama Canal and heading east along the Pan-American
Road to the Bayano lowlands,
where we had Black Antshrike in scrub
by the Rio Mono.
We birded some more scrub
near Torti along the
Rio Torti, finding
Pacific Antwren and Double-banded Greytail. Lunch was at the Hotel
Torti where we were entertained by an abundance of hummers at the
feeders including Scaly-breasted Hummingbird, Snowy-bellied
Hummingbird and Long-billed Starthroat. We packed small bags for our
foray into the Darien and left our main luggage cases, laptops and
the like in storage at the hotel to pick up on the way back; this was
necessary because the travel arrangements for
the Darien are
not adequate to handle large bags. We headed further to east to
Meteti, overnighting
in the basic but pleasant Meteti Hotel.

Guide Euclides (Kilo) Campos

October 4.
We checked out some
secondary scrub and grassland east of Metiti early in the morning,
then had some very good
birding at the eastern end of the Pan-American Road, especially
roadside in forest patches within
15km ofYaviza,
the busy port
town where the road terminates. Here we saw Grey-cheeked Nunlet,
Barred Puffbird, Spot-crowned Barbet and Black Oropendola, along with
Geoffrey's Tamarin. We met Isaac Pizaro and loaded ourselves into a
large motorised canoe for a
1.5-hour journey up the Rio
Chucumaque to the town of El
Real. After lunch we crowded
into an ancient truck for a 10km drive to the edge of the forest. We
then hiked
6kmthrough
the forest to Rancho
Frio, the national park
headquarters. Our trek was interrupted by the sight of an imposing
and much-wanted dark phase
Crested Eagle – one of the
most difficult neotropical raptors to see - perched high in a tree
above the track. This was near the spot where a pair of Harpy Eagles
had for several years nested successfully until earlier this year,
when one of the adults was shot by locals; the people
evidently were angry that their demands for money from visiting
birders in a national park buffer zone were refused. After a long and
eventful day, we arrived in the late afternoon at Rancho Frio,
pleasantly located in a clearing in the forest beside a fast-running
stream, ideal for bathing. Our
baggage arrived
on the backs of three horses. Accommodation
was in a shared dormitory.

Yaviza

October 5.
A day on the lowland and lower foothill forest trails around Rancho
Frio. It started well with Viridian Dacnis and Choco Sirystes near
the buildings. Soon after we had a pair of Sapayoa – the only one
of the world's 234 bird
families that I had not seen. In
the same area we saw Slaty-winged Foliage-gleaner and
Lemon-spectacled Tanager. A Speckled Mourner foraging mid-canopy was
another species that is difficult to find elsewhere.

Mantled Howlers

Late in the day, when we
thought it couldn't get much better, Kilo was alarmed when he heard,
close to the track, the sound of what he thought was the gnashing of
tusks of potentially dangerous White-lipped Peccaries. Instead, out
of the thick ground cover popped a Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo, which
perched briefly on a log before fluttering into the undergrowth;
unfortunately half the group missed the bird.

October
6. The
porters had gone up the steep slopes of Cerro
Pirre yesterday
to set up our mid-elevation camp at Plastico.
Early on our
hike up the mountain we
scored with Plumbeous Hawk - another difficult neotropical raptor.
Then came a suite of highly desirable mid-elevation birds: Tody
Motmot, Yellow-eared Toucanet, Dull-mantled Antbird, Black-and-yellow
Tanager, White-ruffed Manakin and best of all, Wing-banded Antbird.
This is probably the best place to see Wing-banded Antbird and our
excellent
views
of 2 birds on the slopes below the trail were among the trip
highlights.

The
camp at Plastico was basic with small tents under the cover of a
large plastic sheet. Unfortunately, sleeping mats we thought would be
provided did not materialise, evidently
due to a misunderstanding. Most
of us were content enough to put up with the discomforts in the
knowledge that getting a large group up this mountain was never going
to be a fairy tale logistically.
Kilo
and the guys went the extra mile to meet
various requests, to
the point of compromising their own comfort.
In
the late afternoon during a steep walk down to a stream, we saw more
Sapayoas.

Snowy-bellied Hummingbird

October
7.
This
day presented new challenges because the group divided, with most
heading uphill to another camp on the ridge at 1100m. Not everybody
could or was able to go up
to the ridge
for various reasons (see
discussion above)
so some
remained
at
Plastico for
the second camping night.
Those who ascended
further
were rewarded with the endemic Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker not far from
camp, and further up with
a feeding flock of Blue-fronted Parrotlets - a species normally seen
only as a quick fly-by, if at all. Brown-billed Scythebill was
another welcome addition to the list.

Higher up still, Cerro Pirre's
specialties emerged in the form of Varied Solitaire and Pirre
Hemispingus, while Tooth-billed Hummingbird and Violet-throated
(Emerald) Toucanet put in appearances. At the summit, Pirre
Hummingbird and Sooty-headed Wren showed nicely, while most of the
group saw Pirre Warbler and Choco Tapaculo. Late in the day, some of
us had crippling views of a nicely co-operative Black-crowned
Antpitta – another species high on our wishlists - close to
Plastico camp.

October 8. The good
fortune of those at the top continued in the form of Black-eared
Woodquail, Russet-crowned Quail-Dove and Beautiful Treerunner. Those
who remained at Plastico made do with great views of Central American
Pygmy-Owl, Ornate Hawk-Eagle and another Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker.
All us eventually made our way slowly back down the steep trail to
Rancho Frio in the afternoon. Not long before sunset, a fledgling
Crested Eagle close to camp made quite a din as it begged for food
from parents unseen. Around the camp, Crested Owl and Choco
Screech-Owl were heard but not seen.

The boat at El Real

October 9. Our journey
to Rancho Frio in reverse: hiking back through the forest, a truck
ride to El Real, then the boat back to Yaviza, this time at low tide
with good numbers of waterbirds feeding along the shores. We headed
west to fetch our luggage at the Hotel Torti then moved on to our
next destination: Burbayar Lodge in the Caribbean foothills of
central-east Panama. This lodge had long been a primary destination
for birders in Panama but in recent years, many have reported
problems with booking accommodation.

October 10. We walked
some of steep and muddy trails a few kilometres from the lodge in
Nusagandi – a large forest reserve owned by local Indian
communities. We saw Crimson-bellied Woodpecker, Tawny-capped
Euphonia and Striped (Western) Woodhaunter along with our only large
ant swarm of the trip, with attendants including several obliging
Ocellated Antbirds.

Burbayar Lodge

October 11. Early in
the morning we scoped a Plumbeous Hawk from the lodge on a slope
across a valley. We visited a forested gully in another area near the
lodge, seeing yet more Sapayoas (a total of 12-14 were seen during
the trip) and Sulphur-rumped Tanager. Some of the group in the
afternoon visited another site to connect with Speckled Antshrike.

October 12. A day
largely in transit, heading west back across the Panama Canal to the
resort town of El Valle, located in a volcanic crater in
Panama's central highlands, where we stayed in the Anton Valley
Hotel.

October 13. We visited
some nice forest patches around Cerro Gaital and second-growth scrub
near El Valle, seeing Pale-vented Thrush, Garden Emerald and Northern
Schiffornis. With the benefit of hindsight we did not need to visit
this site, but it was intended as back-up for key targets such as
Black-crowned Antpitta and Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo, which we
unexpectedly cleaned up in the Darien.

Las Lajas

October 14. We
continued west on a long drive to Las Lajas, a coastal site in
north-west Panama, where after some effort along the main road to the
beach we spotted the local specialty – a male Veraguan mango,
another Panama endemic. We moved on through the city of David to the
Chiriqui Highlands town of Volcan, where we booked into the
delightful Hotel Dos Rio.

Volcan Hotel Dos Rio

October 15. This
morning early we headed to the Volcan foothills site of Cuesta de
Piedra, a 30-minute drive from the hotel, where we ticked off
regional specialties including Cherrie's Tanager and Costa Rica
Brushfinch. Eye-ringed Flatbill, seen by some on Cerro Pirre, was
present. We moved on to Volcan Lakes, seeing Orange-collared Manakin
in remnant scrub and the distinctive Chiriqui race of Masked
Yellowthroat.

Volcan Lakes

October 16. We had the
whole day on the upper slopes (between 1800 and 2500m) of Volcan
Buru National Park along the Los Quetzales Trail. Here in the
beautiful cloud forest we had a feast of specialties shared with
neighbouring Costa Rica, where many are more difficult to find than
in Panama. Early in the morning we had mixed flocks lower down
including Scintillant Hummingbird, Black-cheeked Warbler and
White-throated Mountain-Gem. Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher was in the
mix along with Volcano Hummingbird and Resplendent Quetzal higher up.

Volcan Baru National Park

At the highest point of our
walk we connected nicely with a Zeledonia, or Wrenthrush – likely
to eventually have a family of its own – in the undergrowth; we
were to snatch glimpses of a couple more as the day progressed.
Silvery-fronted Tapaculo was another skulker that showed briefly at
first, then very well on the track. Then came two much-wanted
specialties in quick succession - a flock of 8-10 Silvery-throated
Jays and an Ochraceous Peewee; both species are challenging to find
elsewhere. The day was capped off by a vocal Costa Rica Pygmy-Owl
tracked down after some effort.

October 17. We checked
out of the hotel and moved to another scenic highlands tourist town –
Boquete, where we booked into Boquete Tree-trek at 1400m.
Along the road in the afternoon we saw several Dark Peewees and a
flock of Sulphur-winged Parakeets, while a probable Maroon-chested
Ground-Dove flew across the road, not to be found again.

Boquete Tree-trek

October 18. We had a
long (2.5 hours) drive to Fortuna Reserve on the Continental
Divide that separates the Pacific and Caribbean slopes of western
Panama. We began on the Pacific side at about 1000m with good numbers
of hummingbirds including White-bellied Mountain-Gem, Snowcap and
Black-bellied Hummingbird; the latter two were unexpected but most
welcome. Another vocal Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl attracted large numbers
of hummers and other birds. Blue-and-gold Tanager, a Panama endemic,
showed nicely and was not uncommon along the road. On the Caribbean
side, we headed down a forest trail and scored stunning views of two
highly desirable birds: Lattice-tailed Trogon and Ochre-breasted
Antpitta. On another trail from where the Caribbean Sea glistened in
the distance, a Black-headed Ant-thrush showed nicely.

Continental Divide at Fortuna

October 19. In the
morning, we birded the road close to the hotel, adding Philadelphia
Vireo to the list, before moving on to David and east to the town of
San Felix, where we booked into a basic hotel.

October 20. We were up
early for a 1.5-hour drive northwards to the cloud forest of Cerro
Santiago. It was dark when we arrived to the loud calling of a
Dusky Nightjar by the road. We saw 1 or 2 birds fly by closely and
Ketil managed to photograph one with the improbable aid of a
smartphone torch. As dawn broke, we had several Streak-breasted
Treehunters about along with our main target – Yellow-green Finch,
another Panama endemic. Our birding success was followed by a long
drive back to Panama City, where we again booked into the Radisson
Summit.

Ochraceous Peewee

October 21. A day of
rest and contemplation. With the benefit of hindsight, I would not
have organised things much differently. If we had known we were going
to do so well in the Darien, we would not have gone to El Valle; we
could have done with an extra night on Cerro Pirre, but the
logistical challenges were substantial. Nor do I think we should have
split the overnight camping into two groups for the second night on
Cerro Pirre.

Unfortunately it happens
sometimes with large group excursions that an individual may be more
concerned with his or her personal comforts than with the interests
of the group; that adds to the challenges of running an already
difficult operation. However, we had outstanding success birdwise,
making up for the relatively minor pitfalls and annoyances. Most of
these were outside the control of what for the most part was an
excellent and highly motivated group of experienced and enthusiastic
birders. And many thanks to Kilo and Jose Carlos again for their
wonderful work.

October 22. A dude
visit to Panama Canal. Birding over, for the time being.

October 23. Another
dude visit – to Casco Viejo, the Old City of Panama.